Communist Army Flees During The Long March Ca. 1935

After years of cooperation between the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang; KMT) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek reversed the policy in 1927 and massacred CCP members in Shanghai. The CCP, led by Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong, retaliated by conducting guerrilla offensives on the KMT before retreating to the Jinggang mountain range between Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. By 1934 the CCP found their position in Jiangxi untenable and around 100,000 Communists embarked on a stealth trek north, known as the "Long March". During the year-long march the CCP perfected its military tactics and indoctrination methods, depositing members throughout the countryside to build support for the movement among the local peasants.